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More stories about IOWA

When an event brings more people into a small town than the normal population, the public works department has to be ready. Water, wastewater, trash, roads, parks—all are impacted far beyond their originally intended capacity. Here's how two towns reacted.

At the end of September, bulldozers razed the entire town of Elkport, Iowa, erasing 150 years of history. The demolition came two years after the town's 86 former residents endured severe flood damage and dawdling by federal agencies that were slow to open their relief checkbooks.

In 2000. Mason City, Iowa, began planning an upgrade of its water treatment system in order to meet the regulations established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Final Radionuclide Rule. Until the new standard became effective on Dec. 8, 2003, the city's treatment for drinking water had...